Channel switching processing method, system, and related devices

ABSTRACT

A channel switching processing method includes receiving, by a switching server, a channel switching request from a receiving end. When the switching server determines that current switching resource information does not meet a switching condition according to the channel switching request, the switching server performs an exception handling procedure and sends channel switching instruction information to the receiving end. The channel switching instruction information is configured to instruct the receiving end to perform a channel switching operation corresponding to the channel switching instruction information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/373,916, filed on Dec. 5, 2011, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2010/073568, filed on Jun. 4, 2010.The International Application claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 200910146974.X, filed on Jun. 5, 2009, and to ChinesePatent Application No. 200910171987.2, filed on Sep. 18, 2009, Theafore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entirety.

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

The present application relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a channel switching processingmethod, system, and related devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE APPLICATION

A Quality of Experience (QoE) parameter is a parameter for evaluating aQuality of Service (QoS) in terms of experience of a common user. In anInternet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, channel switching time isan important index that affects the QoE parameter.

The channel switching time refers to the duration of time from a momentthat a user sends a channel switching instruction to a moment that theuser views a new channel. After the user sends the channel switchinginstruction to a Set-Top Box (STB), the STB sends a channel switchingrequest to a switching server that provides a channel switching service.After receiving the request of the STB, the switching server responds tothe request, and if it is determined to accept the request, provides theuser with a fast channel switching service in a unicast or multicastmanner (that is, sends a temporary data stream to the user, in which thedata stream is obtained by copying an original multicast stream). Afterthe user accesses a switching stream for a certain period of time, amulticast server provides the user with a service of the channel (thatis, the multicast server sends the original multicast stream to theuser).

During the fast channel switching, switching resource information suchas network bandwidth, a server load, switching time of a receiving end,and channel buffer content may change at any time, and such a change maydisable the normal fast channel switching service. For example, when thenetwork available bandwidth is reduced or the server load is larger thana preset threshold value, the switching server may directly reject therequest after receiving the channel switching request sent by the STB.

In a solution of the prior art, when detecting that the switchingresource information does not meet a switching condition, the switchingserver may reject the channel switching request sent by the STB, butonly feed back a rejection message to the STB. The STB may only acquirethat the channel switching request is rejected after obtaining therejection message. Therefore, the STB may not determine how to processafter the channel switching request is rejected.

Because the STB may not acquire a specific rejection reason afterreceiving the rejection message sent by the switching server, the STBmay not continue the corresponding processing after the channelswitching request is rejected, which therefore affects the channelswitching efficiency.

Secondly, in the solution of the prior art, once detecting that theswitching resource information does not meet the switching condition(that is, failing to send a data stream obtained by copying an originalmulticast stream to the STB), the switching server may directly rejectthe channel switching request of the STB, so that available resources inthe switching server may not be fully used, which therefore affects thechannel switching efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION

The present application is directed to a channel switching processingmethod, system, and related devices, which is capable of improving thechannel switching efficiency.

An embodiment provides a channel switching processing method, where themethod includes: receiving, by a switching server, a channel switchingrequest sent by a receiving end; and performing, by the switchingserver, when determining that current switching resource informationdoes not meet a switching condition according to the channel switchingrequest, an exception handling procedure, and sending channel switchinginstruction information to the receiving end, in which the channelswitching instruction information is configured to instruct thereceiving end to perform a channel switching operation corresponding tothe channel switching instruction information.

An embodiment provides a channel switching processing method, where themethod includes: sending, by a receiving end, a channel switchingrequest to a switching server; receiving, by the receiving end, channelswitching instruction information sent by the switching server when theswitching server determines that current switching resource informationdoes not meet a switching condition according to the channel switchingrequest; and performing, by the receiving end, a channel switchingoperation corresponding to the channel switching instruction informationaccording to the channel switching instruction information.

An embodiment provides a channel switching processing method, where themethod includes: receiving, by a switching server, a channel switchingrequest sent by a receiving end; obtaining, by the switching server, amoment that a next random access point appears from a data streamaccording to the channel switching request, in which the data stream isobtained by copying an original multicast stream; and when the switchingserver determines that a time length from a moment that the channelswitching request is received to the moment that the next random accesspoint appears meets a preset condition, sending, by the switchingserver, channel switching instruction information to the receiving end,in which the channel switching instruction information includesdescription information and processing information; the descriptioninformation includes at least one of a target multicast group addressand the moment that the next random access point appears; and theprocessing information is configured to instruct the receiving end toimmediately join a target multicast group according to the targetmulticast group address, or to join the target multicast group accordingto the target multicast group address before the moment that the nextrandom access point appears.

An embodiment provides a channel switching processing system, where thesystem includes: a switching server and a receiving end. The switchingserver is configured to receive a channel switching request sent by thereceiving end, and perform an exception handling procedure whendetermining that current switching resource information does not meet aswitching condition according to the channel switching request, and sendchannel switching instruction information to the receiving end. Thereceiving end is configured to send the channel switching request to theswitching server, receive the channel switching instruction informationsent by the switching server, and perform a channel switching operationcorresponding to the channel switching instruction information accordingto the channel switching instruction information.

An embodiment provides a switching server, where the switching serverincludes: a receiving unit, configured to receive a channel switchingrequest sent by a receiving end; a resource analyzing unit, configuredto determine whether current switching resource information meets aswitching condition according to the channel switching request; and anexception handling unit, configured to, perform an exception handlingprocedure when the resource analyzing unit determines that the currentswitching resource information does not meet the switching condition,and send channel switching instruction information to the receiving end,in which the channel switching instruction information is configured toinstruct the receiving end to perform a channel switching operationcorresponding to the channel switching instruction information.

An embodiment provides a receiving end, where the receiving endincludes: a request sending unit, configured to send a channel switchingrequest to a switching server; an instruction receiving unit, configuredto receive channel switching instruction information sent by theswitching server when the switching server determines that currentswitching resource information does not meet a switching conditionaccording to the channel switching request; and a processing unit,configured to perform a channel switching operation corresponding to thechannel switching instruction information according to the channelswitching instruction information.

It may be seen from the above technical solutions that, in theembodiments, when determining that the current switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, the switching servermay perform the exception handling procedure and send the channelswitching instruction information for indicating the receiving end toperform a corresponding operation to the receiving end. As a result,when failing to provide a normal fast channel switching service, theswitching server may send the specific channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end, so as to instruct the receiving endabout which kind of corresponding processing to be performed, while maynot necessarily directly reject the channel switching request, so as toenable the receiving end to perform a reasonable operation andeffectively use available resources of the switching server, whichtherefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

An embodiment provides a channel switching method, where the methodincludes: receiving, by a switching server, a channel switching requestfrom a receiving end; and sending, by the switching server, channelswitching instruction information to the receiving end in response tothe channel switching request, and sending tailored data from a datastream to the receiving end, in which the channel switching instructioninformation includes description information of the tailored data sentby the switching server and/or processing information for sending thetailored data from the data stream, so as to enable the receiving end toidentify the tailored data, and to perform an operation corresponding tothe channel switching instruction information according to the channelswitching instruction information.

An embodiment provides a channel switching method, where the methodincludes: sending, by a receiving end, a channel switching request to aswitching server; receiving, by the receiving end, channel switchinginstruction information sent by the switching server in response to thechannel switching request and tailored data from a data stream sent bythe switching server; and identifying, by the receiving end, thetailored data, and performing an operation corresponding to the channelswitching instruction information according to the channel switchinginstruction information.

It may be seen from the above technical solutions that, in theembodiments, furthermore, no matter whether the current switchingresource information of the switching server meets the switchingcondition, the switching server may not directly reject the channelswitching request, and may send the channel switching instructioninformation for indicating the receiving end to perform thecorresponding operation and the tailored data from the data stream tothe receiving end, so as to enable the receiving end to perform areasonable operation and effectively use available resources of theswitching server, which therefore improves the channel switchingefficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing system;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a switching server;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a switchingserver;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a receiving end; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a channelswitching processing method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments described below provide a channel switching processingmethod, system, and related devices, so as to improve the channelswitching efficiency.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a channel switching processingmethod is provided, which includes the following steps:

101: A switching server receives a channel switching request sent by areceiving end.

When watching a program and requesting channel switching, a user mayinitiate a channel switching request to the switching server through anSTB.

In this embodiment, the channel switching means that a data streamreceived by the receiving end switches among different data sessions, inwhich the data sessions may be multicast sessions or unicast sessions.The channel switching hereinafter is, for example, the switching of thedata stream received by the receiving end among different multicastsessions.

102: The switching server determines whether current switching resourceinformation meets a switching condition, and if the current switchingresource information meets the switching condition, perform step 103; ifthe current switching resource information does not meet the switchingcondition, perform step 104.

The switching resource information in this embodiment may includenetwork bandwidth information, server load information, bufferinformation of receiving end, channel buffer information, and otherinformation. It is understandable that, in an actual application, theswitching resource information may also be other types of informationthat may represent switching resources, which is not specificallylimited herein.

103: Provide the receiving end with a fast channel switching service.

When determining that the switching resource information meets theswitching condition, the switching server provides the receiving endwith the fast channel switching service, that is, sends a data streamobtained by copying an original multicast stream to the receiving end.

104: Perform an exception handling procedure, and send channel switchinginstruction information to the receiving end.

When determining that the switching resource information does not meetthe switching condition, the switching server performs the exceptionhandling procedure and sends the channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end, in which the channel switchinginstruction information is configured to instruct the receiving end toperform an operation corresponding to the channel switching instructioninformation.

In this embodiment, when determining that the current switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, the switching servermay perform the exception handling procedure and send the channelswitching instruction information for indicating the receiving end toperform the corresponding operation to the receiving end. As a result,when failing to provide a normal fast channel switching service, theswitching server may send the specific channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end, so as to instruct the receiving endabout which kind of corresponding processing to be performed, while maynot necessarily directly reject the channel switching request, so as toenable the receiving end to perform a reasonable operation andeffectively use available resources of the switching server, whichtherefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

For a better understanding, the channel switching processing method inthe embodiment is described with reference to the exception handlingprocedure specifically performed by the switching server.

I. The switching server tailors the data stream.

Referring to FIG. 2, another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method is provided, which includes the following steps:

201: A switching server receives a channel switching request sent by areceiving end.

When watching a program and requesting to switch to another channel, auser may initiate a channel switching request to the switching serverthrough an STB.

In this embodiment, the channel switching request sent by the receivingend may carry an identifier of a target channel requested to switch to.

202: The switching server determines whether current switching resourceinformation meets a switching condition according to the channelswitching request, and if the current switching resource informationmeets the switching condition, perform step 203; if the currentswitching resource information does not meet the switching condition,perform step 204.

The switching resource information in this embodiment may includenetwork bandwidth information, server load information, bufferinformation of receiving end, channel buffer information, and otherinformation. It is understandable that, in an actual application, theswitching resource information may also be other types of informationthat may represent switching resources, which is not specificallylimited herein.

After receiving the channel switching request from the receiving end,the switching server may acquire an identifier of a target channel, andacquire various switching resource information required for switching tothe target channel according to a corresponding relationship between alocally stored channel identifier and a resource demand. Then, theswitching server may obtain currently corresponding switching resourceinformation to determine whether the switching resource informationmeets the switching condition. For example, if at least 2M idlebandwidth in the network is required for switching to the targetchannel, the switching server may detect idle bandwidth of the currentnetwork to determine whether the bandwidth meets the switchingcondition.

Specifically, in this embodiment, if at least one of the followingconditions is met, the switching server determines that the currentswitching resource information does not meet the switching condition.

The switching server determines that available bandwidth is smaller thana preset bandwidth threshold value according to the network bandwidthinformation;

The switching server determines that a server load is larger than apreset load threshold value according to the server load information;

The switching server determines that the data stream makes a receivingend buffer larger than a preset buffer maximum threshold according tothe buffer information of receiving end;

The switching server determines that the data stream makes the receivingend buffer smaller than a preset buffer minimum threshold according tothe buffer information of receiving end; and

The switching server determines that the data stream makes a receivingend playback time-shift larger than a preset threshold value accordingto the channel buffer information.

The data stream in this embodiment is obtained by completely copying anoriginal multicast stream, or is obtained by tailoring the originalmulticast stream.

It should be noted that, if another type of switching resourceinformation is adopted in an actual application, similar determinationmay also be performed, and a specific determination process is notlimited herein.

203: Provide the receiving end with a fast channel switching service.

When determining that the switching resource information meets theswitching condition, the switching server provides the receiving endwith the fast channel switching service, that is, sends a data streamobtained by copying the original multicast stream to the receiving end.

204: Tailor the data stream to obtain a tailored data stream.

When the switching server determines that the switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, in order to reduceresources occupied by the data stream, the data stream may be tailored,and the specific tailoring may include reducing, transcoding, and/ordeleting. The data stream may be reduced to obtain key information or areference frame in the data stream, and specific implementation mayinclude the following steps:

The key information or reference frame in the data stream is obtained.

The key information or reference frame is assembled as the tailored datastream.

The key information is required for the receiving end to process data,which may be different for different types of data streams, and may bekey data in the data stream or data information in the data stream. Thekey information includes channel program dedicated information, videosequence parameter set information, video image parameter setinformation, audio decoding parameter information, and/or programspecific information (PSI) in a transport stream. It is understandablethat, if another data stream is adopted in an actual application, keyinformation of the data stream may also be extracted correspondingly,and the specific key information and extracting process are not limitedherein.

The deleting the data stream may include deleting data that has a smallimpact on a video sequence decoding quality from the original multicaststream, in which the data may include B-frame data or videoenhancement-layer data. In different application scenarios, the datathat has a small impact on the video sequence decoding quality may beother unnecessary data in addition to the B-frame data or videoenhancement-layer data.

The transcoding the data stream may include recoding the originalmulticast stream, which therefore reduces a frame rate, or reducesresolution or increases a Group Of Pictures (GOP) length in differentscenarios.

It should be noted that, the tailoring means in this embodiment may bedifferent in combination with different data stream properties.Therefore, specific tailoring means is not further limited in thisembodiment.

205: Send the tailored data stream and channel switching instructioninformation.

After tailoring the data stream to obtain the tailored data stream, theswitching server may send the tailored data stream to the receiving end,and send first channel switching instruction information to thereceiving end at the same time, in which the first channel switchinginstruction information includes first description information and/orfirst processing information.

The first description information includes at least one of a destinationaddress of the tailored data stream, tailoring information of thetailored data stream, and server exception information.

The first processing information is configured to instruct the receivingend to ignore lost content in the received data stream, and/or canceldata error correction, and/or update playback delay, and/or enableadaptive playback.

The data error correction in this embodiment includes Backward ErrorCorrection (BEC) (retransmission) and/or Forward Error Correction (FEC).

In this embodiment, after receiving the first channel switchinginstruction information, the receiving end may acquire, according to thefirst description information therein, that a data stream to be receivedis the tailored data stream. Then, the lost content in the tailored datastream may be ignored according to the first processing information,including a GAP between the tailored data stream and a multicast streamof a target multicast group and a packet loss in the tailored datastream. Meanwhile, the data error correction may be cancelled. Inaddition, the receiving end may also perform other operations. Forexample, because the tailored data stream occupies small bandwidth andhas a relatively high transmission speed, the playback delay may beupdated. Moreover, because the tailored data stream has a relatively lowquality, in order to improve the QoE, the play speed may be raised toquickly finish playing the content of the tailored data stream.

The server exception information in this embodiment may be currentswitching resource information or information for indicating that thecurrent switching has certain problems, for example, the availablebandwidth is insufficient or the server load is too large. The serverexception information described in the following several embodiments hasthe same meaning as the server exception information in this embodiment.

It should be noted that, the receiving end may also perform operationsof other types, and specific operations are determined according tocontent of the first channel switching instruction information, whichare not limited herein.

This embodiment describes a solution that the switching serverdetermines the switching resource information as soon as the switchingserver receives the channel switching request sent by the receiving end.It is understandable that, the switching resource information may changeabruptly in an actual application, so that the switching server maycontinue to perform determination on the switching resource informationafter determining that the switching resource information meets theswitching condition and performing Step 203, and once determining thatthe switching resource information does not meet the switchingcondition, the switching server may tailor a data stream that is nottransmitted, and transmit the tailored data stream subsequently.

In this embodiment, step 204 may be implemented before step 202. In thiscase, step 205 is performed if switching resources do not meet theswitching condition.

In this embodiment, when determining that the switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, the switching servermay tailor the data stream to reduce the resources occupied by the datastream, send the tailored data stream to the receiving end, and throughthe first channel switching instruction information, notify thereceiving end of making preparation and performing correspondingprocessing for receiving the tailored data stream. As a result, theswitching server may still send the data stream to the receiving endwhen the switching resource information does not meet the switchingcondition, rather than directly reject the channel switching request ofthe receiving end. As a result, available resources of the switchingserver may be effectively used, and the receiving end is enabled toperform a reasonable operation, which therefore improves the channelswitching efficiency.

Another embodiment of a channel switching processing method is provided,which includes the following steps:

101′: A switching server receives a channel switching request from areceiving end.

This step is the same as step 101, and the receiving end herein is thesame as the receiving end in step 101. The receiving end may be aclient, which may also initiate a channel switching request to theswitching server through an STB.

102′: The switching server sends channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end in response to the channel switchingrequest and sends tailored data from a data stream to the receiving end.

After receiving the channel switching request from the receiving end,the switching server sends the channel switching instruction informationto the receiving end in response to the channel switching request. Inaddition to the channel switching instruction information, the tailoreddata from the data stream is also sent to the receiving end. In thisembodiment, the data stream is an original multicast data stream, andthe channel switching instruction information includes descriptioninformation of the tailored data sent by the switching server and/orprocessing information for sending the tailored data from the datastream, so as to enable the receiving end to identify the tailored data,and to perform an operation corresponding to the channel switchinginstruction information according to the channel switching instructioninformation.

After the switching server receives the channel switching request, nomatter whether the current switching resources meet the switchingcondition, the switching server may not reject the channel switchingrequest, but rather send the channel switching instruction informationand the tailored data stream to the receiving end, so as to enable thereceiving end to perform a reasonable operation and effectively useavailable resources of the switching server, which therefore furtherimproves the channel switching efficiency.

Referring to FIG. 11, another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method is provided, which includes the following steps:

201′: A switching server receives a channel switching request from areceiving end, which is the same as step 101.

202′: Tailor a data stream to obtain tailored data.

The switching server tailors the received data stream, and the tailoringstep is the same as step 204.

203′: Send the tailored data from the data stream and channel switchinginstruction information, which is the same as step 205.

The channel switching instruction information is a response to thechannel switching request of the receiving end. As a response message,the channel switching instruction information includes descriptioninformation of the tailored data sent by the switching server and/orprocessing information for sending the tailored data from the datastream. The description information is configured to describe that thesent data stream is key information data, and/or the sent data stream isthe tailored data, and/or address information of the key informationdata. The processing information is configured to instruct the receivingend to ignore lost content in the received data stream, cancel dataerror correction, update playback delay, enable adaptive playback,and/or join a multicast group.

The description information includes information for identifying thesent data stream as the key information data, the sent data stream asthe tailored data, and/or a feature of the sent tailored data stream.The feature may be start location information of the key informationdata, such as a start serial number, end location information of the keyinformation, such as an end serial number, start location information ofthe sent data stream, such as a start serial number, and/or end locationinformation of the sent data stream, such as an end serial number. Theprocessing information includes information for indicating the receivingend to ignore the lost data of the tailored data stream, not toretransmit the lost data between the sent data stream and the multicaststream, cancel the data error correction, update the playback delay,enable the adaptive playback, and/or join the multicast group.

In this embodiment, after receiving the channel switching instructioninformation, the receiving end may acquire, according to the descriptioninformation therein, that a data stream to be received is the tailoreddata stream or the key information data of the data stream. Then, thelost content in the tailored data stream may be ignored according to theprocessing information, including a GAP between the tailored data streamand a multicast stream of a target multicast group and a packet loss inthe tailored data stream. Meanwhile, the data error correction may becancelled. In addition, the receiving end may also perform otheroperations. For example, because the tailored data stream occupies smallbandwidth and has a relatively high transmission speed, the playbackdelay may be updated. Moreover, because the tailored data stream has arelatively low quality, in order to improve the QoE, the play speed maybe raised to quickly finish playing the content of the tailored datastream.

It should be noted that, the receiving end may also perform operationsof other types, for example, joining the multicast group, and a specificoperation is determined according to the content of the channelswitching instruction information, which is not limited herein.

It should be noted that, step 202′ may be implemented before step 201′.

After the switching server receives the channel switching request, nomatter whether the current switching resources meet the switchingcondition, the switching server may not reject the channel switchingrequest, but rather send the channel switching instruction informationand the tailored data stream to the receiving end, so as to enable thereceiving end to perform a reasonable operation and effectively useavailable resources of the switching server, which therefore furtherimproves the channel switching efficiency.

In the above two embodiments, the channel switching processing methodsare described mainly in terms of the switching server. It isunderstandable that the operations of the receiving end in theembodiments specifically include the following steps:

(1) The receiving end sends the channel switching request to theswitching server.

(2) The receiving end receives the channel switching instructioninformation sent by the switching server in response to the channelswitching request and the tailored data from the data stream sent by theswitching server.

(3) The receiving end identifies the tailored data, and performs thechannel switching operation corresponding to the channel switchinginstruction information according to the channel switching instructioninformation.

In this embodiment, the receiving end may acquire, according to thedescription information, that the received data stream is the tailoreddata stream, buffer or parse the tailored data including the keyinformation data or media data, initialize the receiving end afterobtaining the key information data, and try to decode and play the mediadata when a decoding condition is met after obtaining the media data.

In this embodiment, the operations specifically performed by thereceiving end according to the channel switching instruction informationare consistent with those in the foregoing embodiments, and are notdescribed in detail herein again.

In this embodiment, the receiving end may perform a reasonable operationaccording to the channel switching instruction information afterreceiving the channel switching instruction information sent by theswitching server, which therefore improves the channel switchingefficiency.

In the aforementioned and the following embodiments, descriptions inaddition to the step that the switching server determines whether thecurrent switching resource information meets the switching condition arealso applicable to the above two embodiments, and are not described indetail herein again.

It should be noted that, the tailoring of the data stream in the aboveembodiments may be performed by the switching server or by a thirdparty. A logic or physical link exists between the third party and theswitching server, and the switching server may send the data obtained bythe third party tailoring the data stream to the receiving end.

II. The switching server performs delayed transmission.

Referring to FIG. 3, another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method is provided, which includes the following steps:

Steps 301-303 are the same as steps 201-203 in the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, and are not described in detail herein again.

304: Calculate a delay time length according to the switching resourceinformation.

When the switching server determines that the switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, the delay time lengthmay be calculated according to the switching resource information. Forexample, how long sufficient bandwidth is available to transmit a datastream may be calculated according to current network availablebandwidth and a recent changing trend of network bandwidth. For example,an activity is held in the network between 19:00 and 19:20 every night,a large number of users may be online at that time, and a large quantityof network available resources may be occupied; and if a receiving endinitiates a channel switching request at 19:15, the switching serverdetermines that the current network available resources areinsufficient, but it may be deduced according to the changing trend ofthe network bandwidth, that sufficient available bandwidth is availableafter a delay of 15 minutes (that is, the network is busy between 19:00and 19:20, and the network is idle after 19:30), so the switching servercalculates that the delay time length is 15 minutes.

It should be noted that, how the switching server calculates the delaytime length is described above with just one example, while in an actualapplication, the switching server may also calculate the delay timelength in other manners, and specific implementation is not limitedherein.

305: Send channel switching instruction information including the delaytime length.

After determining the delay time length, the switching server may sendsecond channel switching instruction information to the receiving end,in which the second channel switching instruction information includessecond description information and/or second processing information.

The second description information includes at least one of a datastream destination address, a delay time length, and server exceptioninformation.

The second processing information is configured to instruct thereceiving end to start a timer to wait for the delay time length, andthen to receive the data stream and/or update a receiving end state.

In this embodiment, after receiving the second channel switchinginstruction information, the receiving end may acquire, according to thesecond description information therein, that the data stream may bereceived only after the delay, so that the receiving end waits, modifiesthe receiving end state thereof as “Waiting for network data . . . , andthe waiting time is about 15 minutes”, and may display the receiving endstate to a user.

It should be noted that, the timer may be started after the switchingserver determines the delay time length, and after the delay timelength, the switching server may send the data stream or the tailoreddata stream to the receiving end.

In this embodiment, when the switching server determines that theswitching resource information does not meet the switching condition,the delay time length may be calculated, and the delay time length maybe fed back to the receiving end, so the receiving end may acquire whento start to receive the data, and may display the waiting time to theuser. As a result, the situation may be prevented that the request isrejected as the receiving end repeatedly initiates the channel switchingrequest when the data stream is not received for a long time, whichtherefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

III. The switching server triggers the receiving end to directly jointhe target multicast group.

Referring to FIG. 4, another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method is provided, which includes the following steps:

401: A switching server receives a channel switching request sent by areceiving end.

When watching a program and requesting to switch to another channel, auser may initiate a channel switching request to the switching serverthrough an STB.

In this embodiment, the channel switching request sent by the receivingend may carry an identifier of a target channel requested to switch to.

402: The switching server determines whether current switching resourceinformation meets a switching condition according to the channelswitching request, and if the current switching resource informationmeets the switching condition, perform step 403; if the currentswitching resource information does not meet the switching condition,perform step 404.

The switching resource information in this embodiment may includenetwork bandwidth information, server load information, bufferinformation of receiving end, channel buffer information, and otherinformation. It is understandable that, in an actual application, theswitching resource information may also be other types of informationthat can represent switching resources, which will not be specificallylimited herein.

After receiving the channel switching request from the receiving end,the switching server may acquire the identifier of the target channel,and acquire various switching resource information required forswitching to the target channel according to a correspondingrelationship between a locally stored channel identifier and a resourcedemand. Then, the switching server may obtain currently correspondingswitching resource information to determine whether the switchingresource information meets the switching condition. For example, if atleast 2M idle bandwidth in the network is required for switching to thetarget channel, the switching server may detect idle bandwidth of thecurrent network to determine whether the bandwidth meets the switchingcondition.

The manner of determining whether the switching resource informationmeets the switching condition in this embodiment is consistent with thedetermining manner shown in FIG. 2, and is not described in detailherein again.

403: Provide the receiving end with a fast channel switching service.

When determining that the switching resource information meets theswitching condition, the switching server provides the receiving endwith the fast channel switching service, that is, sends a data streamobtained by copying an original multicast stream to the receiving end.

404: Obtain a moment that a next random access point appears accordingto the data stream.

When determining that the switching resource information does not meetthe switching condition, the switching server may determine the momentthat the next random access point appears according to the data stream,that is, the moment that the receiving end may request to join a targetmulticast group.

405: Determine whether a time length from a moment that the channelswitching request is received to a moment that a next random accesspoint appears meets a preset condition, and if the time length meets thepreset condition, perform step 406; if the time length does not meet thepreset condition, perform step 407.

After determining the moment that the next random access point appears,the switching server may determine whether the time length from themoment that the channel switching request is received to the moment thatthe next random access point appears meets the preset condition.

In this embodiment, the preset condition may be met in the followingspecific cases.

When the time length from the moment that the channel switching requestis received to the moment that the next random access point appears islarger than a first preset value and/or smaller than a second presetvalue, it is determined that the preset condition is met.

The first preset value may be a join delay of an Internet GroupManagement Protocol (IGMP), the second preset value may be a maximumtime length that the receiving end may directly access a targetmulticast group, which is preset by the switching server, and the firstpreset value is smaller than the second preset value.

It should be noted that, in an actual application, the two determiningconditions that, “the time length from the moment that the channelswitching request is received to the moment that the next random accesspoint appears is larger than the first preset value”, and “the timelength from the moment that the channel switching request is received tothe moment that the next random access point appears is smaller than thesecond preset value” may be used individually or used in combination,which are not specifically limited herein.

406: Send channel switching instruction information including a targetmulticast group address to the receiving end.

If a time length from a moment that the channel switching request isreceived to a moment that a next random access point appears meets thepreset condition, it indicates that the receiving end may request tojoin the target multicast group after a very short time, or may not missdata of the random access point. Then, the switching server sends thirdchannel switching instruction information to the receiving end, in whichthe third channel switching instruction information includes thirddescription information and/or third processing information.

The third description information includes at least one of a targetmulticast group address, a moment that the next random access pointappears, and server exception information.

The third processing information is configured to instruct the receivingend to immediately join a target multicast group according to the targetmulticast group address, or to join the target multicast group accordingto the target multicast group address before the moment that the nextrandom access point appears.

In this embodiment, after receiving the third channel switchinginstruction information, the receiving end may acquire, according to thethird description information therein, that the receiving end maydirectly join the target multicast group to receive an originalmulticast stream without waiting for the data stream sent by theswitching server. Therefore, the receiving end may immediately join thetarget multicast group according to the target multicast group address,or join the target multicast group according to the target multicastgroup address before the moment that the next random access pointappears.

407: Perform another processing procedure.

If a time length from a moment that the channel switching request isreceived to a moment that a next random access point appears does notmeet the preset condition, it indicates that the receiving end mayrequest to join a target multicast group only after a quite long time,or may miss data of the random access point when the time length issmaller than a join delay of an IGMP. Therefore, the switching servermay perform another processing procedure, which specifically may be,sending a tailored data stream to the receiving end, stopping theswitching procedure, or carrying out other processing procedures, andwhich is not limited herein.

IV. The switching server instructs the receiving end to performfast/slow playback.

Referring to FIG. 5, another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method is provided, which includes the following steps:

501: A switching server receives a channel switching request sent by areceiving end.

When watching a program and requesting to switch to another channel, auser may initiate the channel switching request to the switching serverthrough an STB.

502: The switching server determines whether a receiving end buffermeets a switching condition, and if the receiving end buffer meets theswitching condition, perform step 503; if the receiving end buffer doesnot meet the switching condition, perform step 504.

In this embodiment, the channel switching request sent by the receivingend may carry buffer requirement information, and the switching servermay determine, according to the buffer requirement information, whetherthe receiving end buffer meets the switching condition if the switchingserver sends a data stream to the receiving end, and if the sending thedata stream to the receiving end by the switching server may result inthat the receiving end buffer is larger than a preset buffer maximumthreshold or the receiving end buffer is smaller than a preset bufferminimum threshold, it is determined that the receiving end buffer doesnot meet the switching condition.

503: Provide the receiving end with a fast channel switching service.

When determining that the buffer information of receiving end meets theswitching condition, the switching server provides the receiving endwith the fast channel switching service, that is, sends a data streamobtained by copying an original multicast stream to the receiving end.

504: Transmit a data stream or a tailored data stream and channelswitching instruction information to the receiving end.

In this embodiment, when determining that the buffer information ofreceiving end does not meet the switching condition, the switchingserver may send the data stream or the tailored data stream to thereceiving end, and send fourth channel switching instruction informationto the receiving end at the same time, in which the fourth channelswitching instruction information includes fourth descriptioninformation and/or fourth processing information.

If the sending the data stream by the switching server to the receivingend may result in the receiving end buffer is larger than the presetbuffer maximum threshold, the fourth description information carries atleast one of a fast playback instruction, a target multicast groupaddress, tailored data stream tailoring information, media playbacktime, and server exception information.

The fourth processing information is configured to instruct thereceiving end to perform fast playback according to the fast playbackinstruction, and/or join a target multicast group according to thetarget multicast group address, and/or ignore lost content in thetailored data stream, and/or cancel data error correction, and/or updateplayback delay, and/or play media in the data stream according to themedia playback time.

If the sending the data stream by the switching server sends to thereceiving end may result in that the receiving end buffer is smallerthan the preset buffer minimum threshold, the fourth descriptioninformation carries at least one of a slow playback instruction, atarget multicast group address, tailored data stream tailoringinformation, media playback time, and server exception information.

The fourth processing information is configured to instruct thereceiving end to perform slow playback according to the fast playbackinstruction, and/or join the target multicast group according to thetarget multicast group address, and/or ignore the lost content in thetailored data stream, and/or cancel data error correction, and/or updateplayback delay, and/or play the media in the data stream according tothe media playback time.

The data error correction in this embodiment may be BEC and FEC.

In this embodiment, after receiving the fourth channel switchinginstruction information, the receiving end may acquire, according to thefourth description information therein, that it is necessary to performfast playback or slow playback. If the receiving end buffer is largerthan the preset buffer maximum threshold, the receiving end performsfast playback, so as to prevent accumulated data in the buffer fromoverflow. If the receiving end buffer is smaller than the preset bufferminimum threshold, the receiving end performs slow playback, so as toavoid failed playback because the receiving end buffer is null.

In addition, the receiving end may also join the target multicast groupaccording to the target multicast group address, and/or ignore the lostcontent in the tailored data stream, and/or cancel the data errorcorrection, and/or update the playback delay, in which the specificprocessing manner is similar to those in the above embodiments, and isnot described in detail herein again.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, when determining, accordingto the channel buffer information, that the data stream makes areceiving end playback time-shift larger than the preset thresholdvalue, the switching server may also modify the media playback time, andsend the modified media playback time to the receiving end to instructthe receiving end to play the media in the data stream according to themedia playback time.

In this embodiment, when determining that the buffer information ofreceiving end does not meet the switching condition, the switchingserver may send the fast/slow playback instruction to the receiving end,so as to enable the receiving end to perform corresponding fast/slowplayback according to the instruction, instead of repeatedly initiatingthe channel switching request to the switching server, which thereforeimproves the channel switching efficiency.

V. The switching server forcedly finishes a switching procedure.

Referring to FIG. 6, another embodiment of a channel switchingprocessing method is provided, which includes the following steps:

Steps 601-603 are the same as steps 201-203 in the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, and are not described in detail herein again.

604: Stop a switching procedure, and send channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end.

When determining that the switching resource information does not meetthe switching condition, the switching server stops the channelswitching procedure, and sends fifth channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end, in which the fifth channel switchinginstruction information includes fifth description information and/orfifth processing information.

The fifth description information includes at least one of a targetmulticast group address, a moment that a next random access pointappears, a suspension time length, and server exception information.

The fifth processing information is configured to instruct the receivingend to immediately join a target multicast group according to the targetmulticast group address, or join the target multicast group according tothe target multicast group address before the moment that the nextrandom access point appears, and/or ignore a gap between a data streamand a multicast stream provided by the target multicast group, and/orinitiate a new channel switching request to the switching server againafter the suspension time length.

In this embodiment, after receiving the fifth channel switchinginstruction information, the receiving end may acquire, according to thefifth description information therein, that the switching server hasstopped the switching procedure. Therefore, the receiving end maydirectly requests to join the target multicast group according to thetarget multicast group address included in the fifth descriptioninformation, or initiate a new channel switching request to theswitching server again after waiting for a period of time.

In this embodiment, when determining that the switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, the switching servermay directly finish the switching procedure, and send the channelswitching instruction information to the receiving end. As a result, thereceiving end may perform a corresponding operation according to thechannel switching instruction information fed back by the switchingserver, for example, joining the target multicast group, or initiating anew channel switching request to the switching server again afterwaiting for a period of time, instead of keeping waiting for a fastchannel switching service provided by the switching server, whichtherefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

In the above embodiments, the channel switching processing methods aredescribed mainly in terms of the switching server. It is understandablethat the receiving end in the embodiments may also perform correspondingoperations according to the instruction of the switching server, whichspecifically include the following steps:

(1) The receiving end sends the channel switching request to theswitching server.

(2) When the current switching resource information does not meet theswitching server, the receiving end receives the channel switchinginstruction information fed back by the switching server.

In this embodiment, the channel switching instruction information fedback by the switching server may be any one of the first channelswitching instruction information to the fifth channel switchinginstruction information in the above embodiments, and the specificcontent is not described in detail herein again.

(3) The receiving end performs corresponding processing according to thechannel switching instruction information.

In this embodiment, the specific processing performed by the receivingend according to the channel switching instruction information isconsistent with the descriptions in the above embodiments, and is notdescribed in detail herein again.

In this embodiment, the receiving end may perform a reasonable operationaccording to the channel switching instruction information afterreceiving the channel switching instruction information sent by theswitching server, which therefore improves the channel switchingefficiency.

Another embodiment of a channel switching processing method is provided,which specifically includes the following steps:

(1) A switching server receives a channel switching request sent by areceiving end.

In this embodiment, the channel switching request sent by the receivingend may carry an identifier of a target channel.

(2) The switching server obtains a moment that a next random accesspoint appears from a data stream according to the channel switchingrequest, in which the data stream is obtained by copying an originalmulticast stream.

When receiving the channel switching request sent by the receiving end,the switching server may obtain the identifier of the target channelfrom the channel switching request, determine a target multicast groupaccording to the identifier, obtain the original multicast stream fromthe target multicast group, and copy the original multicast stream toobtain the data stream.

Subsequently, the moment that the next random access point appears, thatis, the moment that the receiving end may request to join the targetmulticast group, may be determined from the data stream.

(3) The switching server determines whether a time length from themoment that the channel switching request is received to the moment thatthe next random access point appears meets a preset condition, and ifthe time length meets the preset condition, the switching server sendschannel switching instruction information to the receiving end, in whichthe channel switching instruction information includes descriptioninformation and processing information. The description informationincludes a target multicast group address and the moment that the nextrandom access point appears. The processing information is configured toinstruct the receiving end to immediately join a target multicast groupaccording to the target multicast group address, or to join the targetmulticast group according to the target multicast group address beforethe moment that the next random access point appears.

In this embodiment, after determining the moment that the next randomaccess point appears, the switching server may determine whether thetime length from the moment that the channel switching request isreceived to the moment that the next random access point appears meets apreset condition.

In this embodiment, the preset condition may be met in the followingspecific cases.

When the time length from the moment that the channel switching requestis received to the moment that the next random access point appears islarger than a first preset value and/or smaller than a second presetvalue, it is determined that the preset condition is met.

The first preset value may be a join delay of an IGMP, the second presetvalue may be a maximum time length that the receiving end may directlyaccess the target multicast group, which is preset by the switchingserver, and the first preset value is smaller than the second presetvalue.

It should be noted that, in an actual application, the two determiningconditions that, “the time length from the moment that the channelswitching request is received to the moment that the next random accesspoint appears is larger than the first preset value”, and “the timelength from the moment that the channel switching request is received tothe moment that the next random access point appears is smaller than thesecond preset value” may be used individually or used in combination,which are not limited herein.

In this embodiment, after receiving the channel switching request of thereceiving end, the switching server may directly obtain the moment thatthe next random access point appears without considering the switchingresource information. After determining that the time length from themoment that the channel switching request is received to the moment thatthe next random access point appears meets the preset condition, theswitching server may send the channel switching instruction informationincluding the target multicast group address to the receiving end, toinstruct the receiving end to join the target multicast group accordingto the target multicast group address. Therefore, the receiving end doesnot need to wait the switching server to send the data stream, and maydirectly receive the original multicast stream from the target multicastgroup, which therefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

Referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of a channel switching processingsystem is provided, which includes a switching server 701 and areceiving end 702.

The switching server 701 is configured to receive a channel switchingrequest sent by the receiving end 702, and when determining that currentswitching resource information does not meet a switching condition,perform an exception handling procedure and send channel switchinginstruction information to the receiving end 702.

The receiving end 702 is configured to send the channel switchingrequest to the switching server 701, receive the channel switchinginstruction information sent by the switching server 701, and perform achannel switching operation corresponding to the channel switchinginstruction information according to the channel switching instructioninformation.

For a better understanding, the channel switching processing system ofthis embodiment is described below in an application scenario.

When watching a program and requesting to switch to another channel, auser may initiate a channel switching request to the switching server701 through an STB.

The switching server 701 determines whether the current switchingresource information meets the switching condition, and if the currentswitching resource information meets the switching condition, theswitching server 701 provides the receiving end 702 with a fast channelswitching service, that is, sends a data stream obtained by copying anoriginal multicast stream to the receiving end.

When determining that the switching resource information does not meetthe switching condition, the switching server 701 performs an exceptionhandling procedure and sends the channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end 702, in which the channel switchinginstruction information is configured to instruct the receiving end toperform an operation corresponding to the channel switching instructioninformation.

In this embodiment, when determining that the current switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, the switching server701 may perform the exception handling procedure and send the channelswitching instruction information for indicating the receiving end 702to perform a corresponding operation to the receiving end 702. As aresult, when failing to provide a normal fast channel switching service,the switching server 701 may send specific channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end 702, so as to instruct the receivingend 702 about which kind of corresponding processing to be performed,while may not necessarily directly reject the channel switching request,so as to enable the receiving end 702 to perform a reasonable operationand effectively use available resources of the switching server 701,which therefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

Referring to FIG. 8, an embodiment of a switching server is provided,which includes a receiving unit 801, a resource analyzing unit 802, andan exception handling unit 803.

The receiving unit 801 is configured to receive a channel switchingrequest sent by a receiving end.

The resource analyzing unit 802 is configured to determine whethercurrent switching resource information meets a switching conditionaccording to the channel switching request.

The exception handling unit 803 is configured to, when the resourceanalyzing unit 802 determines that the current switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, perform an exceptionhandling procedure and send channel switching instruction information tothe receiving end, in which the channel switching instructioninformation is configured to instruct the receiving end to perform achannel switching operation corresponding to the channel switchinginstruction information.

For a better understanding, the switching server is described withreference to a specific embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, anotherembodiment of a switching server is provided, which includes a receivingunit 901, a resource analyzing unit 902, an exception handling unit 903,and a data storage unit 904.

The receiving unit 901 is configured to receive a channel switchingrequest sent by a receiving end.

The resource analyzing unit 902 is configured to determine whethercurrent switching resource information meets a switching conditionaccording to the channel switching request.

The exception handling unit 903 is configured to, when the resourceanalyzing unit 902 determines that the current switching resourceinformation does not meet the switching condition, perform an exceptionhandling procedure and send channel switching instruction information tothe receiving end, in which the channel switching instructioninformation is configured to instruct the receiving end to perform achannel switching operation corresponding to the channel switchinginstruction information.

The data storage unit 904 is configured to store a data stream obtainedby copying an original multicast stream.

The exception handling unit 903 in this embodiment includes at least oneof the following units: a data tailoring unit 9031, a data sending unit9032, a delay time length calculating unit 9033, a switching controlunit 9034, and a switching termination unit 9035.

The data tailoring unit 9031 is configured to tailor the data streamstored in the data storage unit 904 to obtain a tailored data stream,and send the tailored data stream to the receiving end.

The data sending unit 9032 is configured to send the data stream storedin the data storage unit 904 to the receiving end.

The delay time length calculating unit 9033 is configured to calculate adelay time length according to the switching resource information.

The switching control unit 9034 is configured to obtain a moment that anext random access point appears according to the data stream stored inthe data storage unit 904, and determine whether a time length between amoment that the channel switching request is received to the moment thatthe next random access point appears meets a preset condition, and ifthe time length meets the preset condition, trigger the receiving end todirectly join a target multicast group.

The switching termination unit 9035 is configured to stop a channelswitching procedure.

In this embodiment, the specific function implemented by each unitincluded in the exception handling unit 903 is consistent with the fivemethod embodiments described above, and is not described in detailherein again.

In this embodiment, when the resource analyzing unit 902 determines thatthe current switching resource information does not meet the switchingcondition, the exception handling unit 903 may perform an exceptionhandling procedure and send the channel switching instructioninformation for indicating the receiving end to perform a correspondingoperation to the receiving end, so as to enable the receiving end toperform a reasonable operation and effectively use available resourcesof the switching server, which therefore improves the channel switchingefficiency.

Referring to FIG. 10, an embodiment of a receiving end is provided,which includes a request sending unit 1001, an instruction receivingunit 1002, and a processing unit 1003.

The request sending unit 1001 is configured to send a channel switchingrequest to a switching server.

The instruction receiving unit 1002 is configured to receive channelswitching instruction information sent by the switching server when theswitching server determines that the current switching resourceinformation does not meet a switching condition according to the channelswitching request.

The processing unit 1003 is configured to perform a channel switchingoperation corresponding to the channel switching instruction informationaccording to the channel switching instruction information.

The function performed by the receiving end in this embodiment isconsistent with the function performed by the receiving end described inthe above method embodiments, and is not described in detail hereinagain.

In this embodiment, after the instruction receiving unit 1002 receivesthe channel switching instruction information sent by the switchingserver, the processing unit 1003 may perform a reasonable operationaccording to the channel switching instruction information, whichtherefore improves the channel switching efficiency.

The skilled in the art should understand that all or a part of the stepsin the method of the above embodiments may be realized by instructingrelative hardware with programs. The programs may be stored in anon-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as a Read-OnlyMemory (ROM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The channel switching processing method, system, and related devicesdescribe above are merely exemplary. The exemplary embodiments shall notbe construed as limitations on the scope of the claims. It is understoodthat one skilled in the art may modify the embodiments by changing thespecific implementations and application ranges according to the conceptin the embodiments. Such modified embodiments are understood to fallwithin the scope of the claims.

1. A channel switching processing method, comprising: receiving, by aswitching server, a channel switching request from a receiving end;sending, by the switching server, channel switching instructioninformation to the receiving end in response to the channel switchingrequest; and sending tailored data from a data stream to the receivingend, wherein the channel switching instruction information comprisesdescription information of the tailored data sent by the switchingserver or processing information for sending the tailored data from thedata stream, to allow the receiving end to identify the tailored dataand to perform an operation corresponding to the channel switchinginstruction information according to the channel switching instructioninformation.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein before sendingthe tailored data from the data stream to the receiving end, the methodfurther comprises: tailoring the data stream, wherein tailoringcomprises reducing, transcoding, or deleting the data stream to obtainthe tailored data.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the dataobtained by tailoring the data stream comprises: key information or areference frame in the data stream.
 4. The method according to claim 3,wherein the key information comprises at least one of: channel programdedicated information, video sequence parameter set information, videoimage parameter set information, audio decoding parameter information,and program specific information in a transport stream.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the channel switching instructioninformation comprises at least one of: description information andprocessing information; wherein the description information comprisesinformation that facilitates identification of the sent data stream asthe tailored data, or a feature of the sent tailored data; and whereinthe processing information comprises information that indicates to thereceiving end to ignore lost data of the tailored data stream, canceldata error correction, update playback delay, enable adaptive playback,or join a multicast group.
 6. A channel switching processing methodcomprising: sending, by a receiving end, a channel switching request toa switching server; receiving, by the receiving end, channel switchinginstruction information from the switching server in response to thechannel switching request; receiving tailored data from a data streamsent by the switching server; identifying, by the receiving end, thetailored data; and performing an operation corresponding to the channelswitching instruction information according to the channel switchinginstruction information.
 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein thetailored data comprises at least one of: key information or a referenceframe obtained by reducing the data stream, recoded data obtained bytranscoding the data stream, and necessary data obtained by deleting thedata stream.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the keyinformation comprises at least one of: channel program dedicatedinformation, video sequence parameter set information, video imageparameter set information, audio decoding parameter information, andprogram specific information in a transport stream.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 6, wherein the channel switching instructioninformation comprises at least one of: description information andprocessing information; wherein the description information comprisesinformation that facilitates identification of the sent data stream asthe tailored data, and/or a feature of the sent tailored data; andwherein the processing information comprises information that indicatesto the receiving end to ignore lost data of the tailored data stream,cancel data error correction, update playback delay, enable adaptiveplayback, or join a multicast group.
 10. The method according to claim9, wherein performing the operation corresponding to the channelswitching instruction information comprises at least one of: ignoringthe lost data of the tailored data stream, cancelling the data errorcorrection, updating the playback delay, enabling the adaptive play, andjoining the multicast group according to the channel switchinginstruction information.
 11. A channel switching processing methodcomprising: sending, by a receiving end, a channel switching request toa switching server; receiving, by the receiving end, channel switchinginstruction information from the switching server when the switchingserver determines that current switching resource information does notmeet a switching condition according to the channel switching request;and performing a channel switching operation corresponding to thechannel switching instruction information according to the channelswitching instruction information.
 12. A receiving end comprising: arequest sending unit configured to send a channel switching request to aswitching server; an instruction receiving unit configured to receivechannel switching instruction information from the switching server whenthe switching server determines that current switching resourceinformation does not meet a switching condition according to the channelswitching request; and a processing unit configured to perform a channelswitching operation corresponding to the channel switching instructioninformation according to the channel switching instruction information.